<p><a href="/en-us/cvbd">Home</a>&nbsp;-&gt; <a href="/en-us/vectors/overview/">Vectors</a>&nbsp;-&gt; <a href="/en-us/vectors/mosquitoes/">Mosquitoes</a> -&gt; <a href="/en-us/vectors/mosquitoes/feeding">Feeding</a></p>

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<h1>FEEDING</h1>
<p>Mosquitoes obtain their blood meals from a very wide variety of hosts. These include warm-blooded animals as birds, cattle, pigs, numerous wild animals, and humans; and cold-blooded animals such as frogs, lizards, snakes, insect nymphs and pupae.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>The choice of host varies greatly with&nbsp;the&nbsp;species of mosquito and the availability&nbsp;of the host. Many species have a marked predilection for one type of host, which they select if reasonable available, taking other hosts only in the absence of their&nbsp;preferred food (Macdonald, 1957). Other mosquitoes have no&nbsp;particular preferences&nbsp;and will feed readily on a wide range of hosts.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Two types of feeding have been described by Gordon and&nbsp;Lumsden&nbsp;(1939): 'pool feeding', in which a capillary is ruptured by the tip of the fascicle and the blood is sucked from the small pool formed by the ensuing haemorrhage; and 'capillary feeding', in which the blood is taken up as a result of the fascicle penetrating into the lumen of a capillary.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Most&nbsp;mosquitoes are capillary feeders,&nbsp;however, there are also&nbsp;some pool feeders (Mehlhorn, 2001).</p>

<h2>SEASONAL AND CIRCADIAN DYNAMICS</h2>
<p>Blood feeding in mosquitoes follows a species-specific circadian rhythm with three main patterns:</p>
<ol>
  <li><strong>nocturnal</strong>&nbsp;with&nbsp;feeding occurring&nbsp;at night – probably most species belong to this group, e.g. some&nbsp;<em>Aedes</em>&nbsp;species and&nbsp;<em>Mansonia&nbsp;africana</em>;&nbsp;</li>
  <li><strong>diurnal</strong>, if feeding occurs largely during daylight hours, e.g.&nbsp;<em>Aedes&nbsp;apicoargenteus</em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>Aedes&nbsp;longipalpis</em>;&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
  <li><strong>crepuscular</strong>, if feeding occurs largely during twilight hours, at dusk or at dawn, e.g. <em>Aedes africanus</em> and <em>Anopheles gambiae</em> (Goma, 1966).&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
</ol>

Seasonal and Circadian Dynamics

<h2>HOST SEEKING BEHAVIOUR</h2>
<p>Two main determinant complexes influence mosquito host location:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<ol>
  <li><strong>endogenous</strong> determinants such as genetic make-up, age, mating condition,&nbsp;gonotrophic&nbsp;status, nutritional status and circadian rhythm of the female mosquito; and&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
  <li><strong>exogenous</strong> determinants, defined by the host and the environment&nbsp;like availability and&nbsp;enamations&nbsp;of the host.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
</ol>
<p>The mosquito host-finding can be divided into successive phases: activation, oriented flight to the host, alighting on the host, probing, ingestion, withdrawal, and take-off (Mehlhorn, 2001).&nbsp;The oriented flight&nbsp;is regulated by&nbsp;anemotaxis. Movements of the host are registered by&nbsp;optomotor&nbsp;responses, and emanations are noticed. Depending on the species, exhaled air, with carbon dioxide as the most stimulating component, or&nbsp;particular skin&nbsp;emanations are registered. Long distance (up to 70 m) is achieved by odour cues, CO<sub>2</sub>&nbsp;attracts over distances of about 20 m, and heat and humidity additionally cover&nbsp;a distance of 1-2&nbsp;m. Besides CO<sub>2</sub>, many other chemicals have proven attractive potential.&nbsp;</p>

Host Seeking Behaviour

<h2>REFERENCES</h2>
<h4>Introduction</h4>
<p>Gordon RM,&nbsp;Lumsden&nbsp;WHR: A study of the behaviour of the mouthparts of mosquitoes when taking up blood from living tissue; together with some observations on the ingestion of&nbsp;microfilariae. Ann&nbsp;Trop&nbsp;Med&nbsp;Parasitol. 1939, 33, 259-78&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Macdonald G: The epidemiology and control of malaria. 1957, Oxford University Press, London&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Mehlhorn H: Mosquitoes. In: Mehlhorn H (ed.): Encyclopaedic reference of parasitology. Vol. 1: Biology, structure, function. 2nd&nbsp;edn., 2001, Springer&nbsp;Verlag, Berlin, pp. 378-84&nbsp;</p>
<h4>Seasonal and Circadian Dynamics&nbsp;</h4>
<p>Goma&nbsp;LKH: The mosquito. 1966, Hutchinson Tropical Monographs, Hutchinson &amp; Co. (Publishers) LTD, London&nbsp;</p>
<h4>Host Seeking Behaviour&nbsp;</h4>
<p>Mehlhorn H: Mosquitoes. In: Mehlhorn H (ed.): Encyclopaedic reference of parasitology. Vol. 1: Biology, structure, function. 2nd&nbsp;edn., 2001, Springer&nbsp;Verlag, Berlin, pp. 378-84&nbsp;</p>

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